Just a guy reloading various household objects as if they're first-person shooter weapons

Karl "Kommander Karl" Schecht is reloading toasters, lamps, and smoke alarms like he's in a video game

By Reid McCarter  |  December 15, 2021 | 8:00pm
Games Features Handloading
Just a guy reloading various household objects as if they're first-person shooter weapons
A deadly, breakfast-preparing weapon of war. Screenshot: Kommander Karl

Everyday objects can, if we’re willing to believe in them and channel just an ounce of MacGyver’s can-do spirit, be turned into just about anything we want them to be. As evidence of this, just look at the guy who turned annoying office noises into a nice song or the musician who makes all sorts of stuff into lovely flutes.

Or, more recently, take inspiration from video game environment artist Karl Schecht (who goes by “Kommander Karl” online), who’s out there creating videos where he reloads various household objects as if they’re guns in a first-person shooter.

A compilation of some of Karl’s best clips shows exactly how talented he is at this very specific skill. He gets started by reloading a vacuum cleaner, popping an old filter out and a new one in with satisfyingly chunky noises while a Counter-Strike-style heads-up display shows off his health, armor, and current ammo values.

Next up, Karl gets a toaster battle-ready with rifle reload sound effects then he moves on to a smoke alarm battery and pencil sharpener. There’s also a kid’s toy turned into a shotgun, a metal wallet fold, and a lamp that requires the sacrifice of an old light bulb to be re-armed.

When it comes time to reload a caulking gun, Karl throws up a congratulatory message stating “Nice caulk!” at the end because, ultimately, nobody can resist that particular low-hanging fruit.

In the past, he’s also made videos of him reloading stuff like an electric drill, a staple gun, and, in a “Christmas special,” a nutcracker. Each of these works not just because of the sound effects and movements, but also the video game character-style idling Karl includes by gently bobbing his arms in place or twirling around his ersatz weapons.

Sure, none of this may be on quite the same level of sophistication as “pretending to pee by sticking a garden hose between your legs,” but, on the whole, it’s still pretty good.

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